Land-a-Dollar Campaign collects over N$ 200 000

The Land-a-Dollar campaign has raked in N$234 619.40 for the massive urban and rural land servicing project initiative.

The campaign has donated 60% of the funds towards the project and officially handed over a cheque amounting to N$ 140 779.38 to the Minister of Urban and Rural Development Sophia Shaningwa today.

The student representative council of the University of Namibia (UNAM) heeded to the call and officially launched the campaign on the 14th of August 2015 with the objective to raise funds for the massive urban and rural land servicing project.

Handing over the funds, the Dean of Students at Unam Margareth Mainga has said that this was done to assist President Hage Geingob’s call on all Namibians to support the urban and rural land servicing project.

“This initiative kicked off after a meeting between the youths and government leaders where it was agreed that local authorities countrywide would identify land to be cleared and serviced, in order to avail plots for housing development. These drums were distributed all over the country, and were placed at all the campuses of UNAM, government institutions, banks, malls, supermarkets, retailers and public places giving all people the opportunity to make a donation towards the campaign,” she said.

She added that the campaign was at inception set to roll out for a period of 6 months, but after a feasibility study the need to extend it was recognised to allow for full engagement of all stakeholders at large, and as well as for various administrative reasons which would ensure a credible and transparent process.

Accepting the donation, Shaningwa has said adequate supply and access to serviced land in particular and productive land in general is one of the necessary conditions for achieving the national aspirations and desired outcomes.

“The scarcity and inadequate supply of serviced land is both pushing up the prices of land, and also slowing down the process of housing delivery and general development in the country directly or indirectly. As such, availability of affordable serviced land in both urban and rural areas is a critical prerequisite for meeting our national goals providing decent housing and addressing the prevalent undesirable phenomenon of informal settlements as well as for business incitement and economic development,” she said.

She added that the responsibility and burden of housing and urban land provision cannot be left alone for the government and requires concerted efforts from both the public and private sectors and to make the dream of adequate affordable housing come true.